Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Meng Rendong started to get up and leave as she spoke.

Ji Yu’s fingertips were originally clutching the soft towel. Water droplets traced the lines of her neck, falling and making the edge of the towel even softer. She lowered her eyes, and the moment she realized Meng Rendong was genuinely getting up and leaving.

She still let go of the towel to quickly grab a corner of the shirt near the small of the other person’s back.

“It was just a slight leg cramp.”

“It’s nothing serious.”

She thought for a moment, then slightly raised her head, her peripheral vision quickly glancing over the soaked, dark red shirt collar of Meng Rendong. She added: “And… in your current state, it’s not very convenient for you to go out, is it?”

The icy chill in Meng Rendong’s heart thawed slightly when Ji Yu grabbed her, thinking Ji Yu finally showed her some warmth. However, after turning around, she noticed Ji Yu quickly withdrew her fingertips. When her mind finally registered what Ji Yu was saying, she looked down at herself, only then realizing that in her rush to get in earlier, she had accidentally gotten soaked by a lot of hot water.

Now that the hot water had cooled, the cold, sticky fabric clinging to her skin made her uncomfortable.

Meng Rendong casually tugged at her shirt collar. After undoing the topmost button, she felt slightly more able to breathe. She was about to help Ji Yu relieve the cramp, having already extended her hand—

She caught sight of Ji Yu turning her head to look at the floor tiles.

Meng Rendong endured it, but couldn’t stand being rejected and disliked by the person she cared about repeatedly. Thus, her ensuing words unconsciously carried a hint of sarcasm, though it was unclear whom it was directed at:

“Do you find it uncomfortable now if I touch you or if you touch me?”

Hearing her words, Ji Yu’s throat moved involuntarily.

As if wanting to say something.

She met Meng Rendong’s gaze for a moment, seeing the unconcealed hurt in her starry eyes. The other person clearly longed for her response but insisted on using this rhetoric to conceal her feelings, as if desperately maintaining the last shred of dignity, unwilling for her heart to be repeatedly thrown into the mud out of lowliness.

Ji Yu actually didn’t mean that.

If she truly hated Meng Rendong, she wouldn’t have stayed by her side for four years, no matter how much this person resembled Si Tian initially.

But some explanations, when given at a time like this, carry an inappropriate meaning, like giving someone false hope. Thus, she could only vaguely say:

“CEO Meng is mistaken. I didn’t mean that.”

The cold “CEO Meng” slipped out. Meng Rendong realized she couldn’t bring herself to do it anymore. She had wanted to massage Ji Yu’s leg, but the other person’s strict adherence to social etiquette made her feel that forcing herself to touch her now would only make her seem insensitive and opportunistic.

Or perhaps, disregard Ji Yu’s wishes and forcibly try to maintain a connection with her.

Her outstretched fingertips trembled subtly, almost like a spasm. Immediately, Meng Rendong withdrew her hand and looked up at Ji Yu with restraint:

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Do you need me to help you up?”

Ji Yu gently moved her leg. She realized that during their conversation, the cramp had significantly eased. She bent her knee, flexed the sole of her foot, then nodded to Meng Rendong, making a gesture to stand up.

Meng Rendong then stood up and offered her palm.

The surroundings were either slippery walls or cold, steamy metal cubicle doors. If Ji Yu tried to get up independently using these now, it would be equivalent to confirming her dislike for Meng Rendong.

So she raised her hand to grasp Meng Rendong’s palm. She felt the other person pull her up with steady force. Meng Rendong didn’t maliciously pull her into an embrace, and slowly let go once she confirmed Ji Yu was steady on her feet.

Ji Yu let her right hand drop back to her side. The snowy white towel wrapped around her, accentuating her delicate neck line, revealing only the area below her knees.

After confirming that Ji Yu was fine, Meng Rendong pulled open the shower cubicle door and walked straight out. She casually grabbed a packet of freshly sanitized towels from the rack in the locker room. With a normal expression, she walked out, dragging the sticky feeling of her half-soaked suit trousers clinging to her leg, and called her assistant to bring over a change of clothes.

During this time, the quick-witted female manager of the venue came over to meet Meng Rendong, enthusiastically and appropriately asking her:

“CEO Meng, I have some clean clothes here. If you don’t mind, why don’t you change into them first?”

“The clothes are ones I recently bought, they’ve been washed… Or I can go out and buy you a set right now.”

Inside the shower cubicle.

Ji Yu was about to quickly rinse herself off and leave when her gaze unintentionally fell upon something on the floor.

It was a wrapped sandwich.

The packaging was somewhat simple, not a fancy brand, clearly bought from a roadside convenience store. The outer plastic wrapping was soaked, and Ji Yu bent down to pick it up. Holding its weighty presence, she let out a nearly inaudible sigh.

It seemed water had leaked inside.

It couldn’t be eaten.

Actually, given Meng Rendong’s personality, Ji Yu remembered that this person was extremely particular about what she ate and wore, as evidenced by her continuously varied, designer professional attire since she left.

She genuinely didn’t believe Meng Rendong was the type to compromise her standards and eat a convenience store sandwich.

Moreover, seeing the ham, egg, and dried meat floss in the sandwich filling, it was even clearer that Meng Rendong would have no interest in this flavor. So, the fact that Meng Rendong appeared near the shower room with this sandwich…

The recipient was self-evident.

Ji Yu ultimately rinsed herself one last time, then carried the heavy, water-soaked sandwich and tossed it into the trash can in the locker room.

Sensing Ji Yu’s low mood, the system inexplicably felt something.

Somehow, it suddenly recalled the questions Meng Rendong had asked several times after the breakup: “Did you ever love me?,” “Do you really hate me that much?,” “Do you feel uncomfortable even if I touch you now?”

Ji Yu had never answered directly, choosing silence instead.

At the time, the system, like Meng Rendong, assumed Ji Yu’s silence was a final gesture of preserving dignity, a tacit agreement that she simply didn’t want any further connection with Meng Rendong.

But perhaps because it had spent more time with Ji Yu…

It knew that while Ji Yu habitually treated people kindly, she was not overly polite when facing people she disliked. If Ji Yu truly hated Meng Rendong’s repeated entanglement, she would have inevitably said something more cold and final.

But Ji Yu hadn’t.

Unaccountably, the system hesitated and called out to her:

“Yuyu…”

Ji Yu’s attention was drawn away. She finally looked away from the trash can and responded: “Yes?”

The system watched her turn away, gather her things, and walk out, never looking back. It subconsciously felt it had misjudged and only said: “Nothing, just asking if you were hurt when you fell just now?”

Ji Yu shook her head: “I’m fine.”

She hadn’t been an unresisting fall after losing power; the commotion was just a little loud, and she had braced herself with her wrist when she landed, so she hadn’t sprained anything. It wasn’t an injury at all.

The system sighed in relief and replied: “That’s good then.”

Seeing Ji Yu leave, it secretly let out a breath, thinking it was lucky it hadn’t rashly asked. Otherwise, Yuyu would have been very embarrassed.

Really…

The system couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of having almost asked, “Do you perhaps have a slight crush on Meng Rendong?”

I hope I’m not getting a virus, am I?

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